Obama touts free and Open Data, says it creates jobs

As the government cuts its own employment, federal agencies are trying to stimulate job creation by making vast amounts of government data freely available.

The Obama administration says that its Data.gov initiative, started in 2009, is creating jobs and providing fodder for start-ups.

Exactly how many jobs Data.gov can be credited with is not known. But what is known is that budget actions are steadily reducing government employment. Federal employment declined by 5,000 jobs in June, and has fallen by 65,000 jobs over the past 12 months, according to the Labor Dept.

One government data-aided company is called iTriage. It offers an app that provides a range of medical information about doctors, medications, clinics and hospitals, as well as symptoms research. About 9.5 million have downloaded it.